The Rise of Baha
10. Baha’s Sudden Flight to Suleymaniyya
Baha arrived in Baghdad upon expulsion from Iran, on “Jamad Thani 28, 1269 A.H. (April 8, 1853), Shoghi Effendi’s god passes by, P. 109.
Baha’s activities in Iraq from the time of his arrival in Baghdad till his removal to Istanbul on “Dhil Qa’da 14, 1279 A.H. May 3rd, 1863”, ibid, P. 133.
10.4 Shoghi Effendi’s Account on Baha’s Sudden Departure
Shoghi Effendi’s account in god passes by:
(P. 113) “To Mirza Aqa Jan [of Kashan] ‘the first believer’ in him [i.e. Baha], designated later as Khadimu’llah (Servant of God) Baha, more than to anyone else, was moved to disclose, at this critical junction a glimpse of the as yet unrevealed glory of his station.”
(PP.116-118) “Haji Mirza Kamal-al-Din, who was honored by a Tablet, would have, but for the restraining hand of Baha, proclaimed forthwith his discovery of god’s hidden secret in the person of the One who had revealed it.”
(P.117) “the signs of increasing independence, of _ sagacity and superiority and capacity for leadership unmistakably exhibited by Baha himself … A clandestine opposition, whose sole aim was to nullify every effort exerted, and destruct every design conceived. By Baha for the rehabilitation of a distracted community, could now be clearly discerned. Insinuations, whose purpose was to sow the seeds of doubt and suspicion and to represent him as usurper, as the subverter of the laws of the BÁB, and the wrecker of his Cause, were being increasingly circulated.”
(P. 119): “A clandestine opposition, whose aim was to nullify every effort exerted, and frustrate every design conceived, to Baha for the rehabilitation of a distressed community, could now be clearly discerned. Insinuations, whose purpose was to sow the seeds of doubt and suspicion and to represent him as a usurper, as the laws instructed by the BÁB, and the wrecker of his cause, were being incessantly circulated.”
(P. 120): “Suddenly, and without informing anyone among the members of his own family, on the 12th of Rajab 1270 A.H. (April 10, 1854), he departed, accompanied by an attendant, a Muhammadan named Abu al-Qasim-i-Hamadani, to whom he gave a sum of money, instructing to act as a merchant and use it for his own purposes. Shortly after, that servant was attacked by thieves and killed, and Baha was left entirely alone in his wanderings through the wastes of Kurdistan, a region whose sturdy and warlike people were known for their age-long hostility to the Persians, whom they regarded as seceders from the faith of Islam, and from whom they differed in their outlook, race and language attained in the garb of a traveller, coarsely clad, taking with him nothing but his Kashkul (alms-bowl) and a change of clothes, and assuming the name of Dervish Muhammad, Baha retired to the wilderness, and lived for a time on a mountain named Sar-Galu.”
(P. 122): “Baha was still pursuing his solitary existence on the mountain when a certain Shaykh, a resident of Suleymaniyya, who owned property in that neighbourhood, sought him out, as directed in a dream he had of the prophet Muhammad. Shortly after this contact was established, Shaykh Isma’il the leader of the Khalidiyya order, who lived in Suleymaniyya, visited him, and succeeded, after repeated requests, in obtaining his consent to transfer his residence to that town. Meanwhile his friends in Baghdad had discovered his whereabouts, and had dispatched Shaykh Sultan the father-in-law of Aqa-i-Kalim [Baha’s brother Mirza Musa], to beg him to return; and it was now while he was living in Suleymaniyya, in a room belonging to the Takiya-i-Mawlana Khalid (theological Seminary) that their messenger arrived.”
“Not long after Baha’s arrival in Kurdistan, Shaykh Sultan has related, he was able through his personal contacts with Shaykh Uthman, Shaykh Abd-al-Rahman, and Shaykh Jamal, the honored and undisputed leaders of the Naghshbandiyya, the Qadisiyya and Khalidiyya Orders respectively, to win their hearts completely, and establish his ascendancy over them. The first of them Shaykh Uthman, included no less a person than the Sultan himself and his entourage among his adherents.”
(P. 126) : “Mirza Yahya [Subh-i-Azal] …. Had insistently and in the writing besought him to return. No less urgent were the pleading of his own kindred and friends …. On the 12th of Rajab 1272 A.H (March 19, 1856) he arrived in Baghdad, exactly two lunar years after his departure for Kurdistan.”
(P. 128): “During the seven years that elapsed the resumption of his labors (upon return from Kurdistan] and the declaration his prophetic mission [in the garden of Ridvan in Baghdad on the eve of his removal to Istanbul on Dhil Qa’da 14, 1279 A.H. (May 3, 1863)], it would be no exaggeration to say that the Bahai community, under the name and in the shape of a re-arisen BÁBi community was born and was closely taking shape, though its creator still appeared in the guise of, and continued to labor as, one of its foremost disciples of the BÁB.”
(P. 133) “By the aid of god and His divine and merry grace he [i.e. Baha] himself has written [in his epistle to the son of the wolf, Shoghi Effendi’s translation, P. 22] with reference to the character and consequences of his labors during that period, ‘we revealed, as a copious rain, our verses, and sent them to various parts of the world. We exhorted all men, and particularly this people, through our wise counsels and loving admonitions, and forbade them to engage in sedition, quarrel, disputes or conflict. As a result of this, and by the grace of god, waywardness and folly were changed into piety and understanding, and weapons of war were converted into instruments of peace.”
(PP. 137-138): “So prolific was this period, that during the first two years of his return from his retirement, according to the testimony of Nabil, who was at that time living in Baghdad, that unrecorded verses that streamed from his lips averaged, in a single day and night, the equivalent of the Quran! As to those verses which he either dictated or wrote himself, their number was no less than remarkable than either the wealth of material they contained, “the diversity of subjects to which they referred. A vast and indeed the greater portion of those writings were alas lost irretrievably to posterity. No less an authority than Mirza Aqa Jan, Baha’s amanuensis, affirms, as reported by Nabil, that by the express order of Baha, hundreds of thousands of verses, mostly written by his own hand, were obliterated and cast into the river. ‘Finding me reluctant to execute his orders,’ Mirza Aqa Jan has revealed to Nabil, ‘Baha would reassure me saying: ‘None is to be found at this time to hear these melodies’ ….’Not once, or twice, but innumerable times, was I commanded to repeat this act.’ ”
(P. 138) : “The Kitab-i-Iqan was revealed within the space of two days and two nights, in the closing years of that period (1278 A.H., 1862 A.D.).
It was written in fulfilment of the prophecy of the BÁB, who had specifically stated that the Promised One would complete the text of the unfinished Persian Bayan.”
(P. 140): “The Hidden words was revealed in the year 1274 A.H. (1857-1858), partly in Persian, partly in Arabic; it was originally designated the ‘Hidden Book of Fatima,’ and was identified by its author with the Book of that same name, believed by Shia Islam to be in the possession of the promised Qaim, and to consist of words of consolation addressed by the angel behind, the god’s command, to Fatima, and dictated to the Imam ‘Ali, for the sole purpose of comforting her in her hour of bitter anguish after the death of her illustrious Father.”
(P. 144) : “This assembled divines [of Najaf and Karbala] delegated the learned and devout Haji Mulla Hasan-i-Ammu who asked Baha, as an evidence of the truth of his mission, for a miracle that would satisfy completely all concerned (Although you have no right to ask this.’, Baha replied ‘for god should test His creatures, and they should not test god, still I allow and accept this request …. The ‘Ulama must assemble and, with one accord, choose one miracle, and write that, after the performance of that miracle, they will no longer entertain doubts about me, and that all will acknowledge and confess the truth of my cause. Let them seal this paper, and bring it to me. This must be the accepted criterion: if the miracle is performed, no doubt will remain for them; and if not we shall be convicted of imposture’. Their envoy departed to deliver his message. Three days later he sent word that august assembly had failed to arrive at a decision, and had chosen to drop the matter, a decision to which he himself later gave wide publicity.”
(P.146): “The Iranian ambassador Mirza Husayn Khan in Istanbul succeeded in securing the sanction of the Sultan for the transfer of Baha and his companions (who had in the meantime been forced by circumstances to change their citizenship) to Istanbul.
(PP. 142-149): “On the third of Dhil Qa’da, 1279 A.H. (April 22, 1862) he [i.e. Baha] set forth on the first stage of his four month journey to the Capital of the Ottoman Empire. That historical day, forever after designated as the first day of the Ridvan Festival, … (P. 149) was one of the like of which the inhabitants of Baghdad rarely beheld … Leaving for the last time …. His ‘Most Holy Habitation’ … he, at length, reached the banks of the river, and was ferried across, accompanied by his sons and amanuensis, to the Najibiyya Garden, situated on the opposite shore … Baha entered the Najibiyya garden, where he tarried twelve days before his final departure from the city.”
(P. 151): “The arrival of Baha in the Najibiyya garden, subsequently designated by his followers, the garden of Ridvan, signalled the commencement of what has come to be recognized as the holiest and most significant of all Bahai festivals, commemorating the declaration of his mission to his companions.”
(P. 152): “His [i.e. Baha’s] adaptation of the Taj (tall felt head dress), on the day of his departure from his most Holy House, all proclaimed unmistakably his assumption of the prophetic office of his leadership of the community of the BÁB’s followers.”
(P. 152): “Of the exact circumstances attending that epoch-making declaration we, alas, are but scantly informed. The words Baha actually uttered on that occasion, the manner of his declaration, the reaction it produced, its impact on Mirza Yahya [Subh-i-Azal], the identity of those who were privileged to hear him, are shrouded in obscurity which future historians will find it difficult to penetrate. The fragmentary description left to posterity by his chronological Nabil is one of the very few authentic records we possess of the memorable days he spent in that garden. ‘Every day’, Nabil has related, ‘ere the hour of dawn, the gardeners would pick the roses which lines the four avenues of that garden, and would pile them in the center of the floor of his blessed tent. So great would be the heap that when his companions gathered to drink their morning tea in his presence, they would be unable to see each other across it. All these roses Baha would, with his hands, entrust to those whom he dismissed from his presence every morning to be delivered, on his behalf, to his Arab and Persian friends in the city. “
(P. 155): “The departure of Baha from the garden of Najibiyya [en route for Istanbul] took place on Dhil Qa’da 14, 1279 A.H. (May 3, 1863) … mounted on his steed, a red roan stallion, of the finest breed, the best his lovers could purchase for him, he rode forth on the first stage of a journey that was to carry him to the city of Istanbul.”
To read more about Baha's members of family, got to the main page, select 'Bahaism -> The Rise of Baha' and navigate through the index.